The offending bikini top is long gone from the Abercrombie Kids website, but the outrage over the company’s marketing of push-up wear to wee ones rages on.

In case you missed all the fist pounding last week, the mall retailer known for its racy ads was blasted by a fire storm of criticism when parents got wind of the Ashley bikini, labeled a "push-up," available in sizes as small as a 4.

While fashion certainly has a slimy hand in making kids grow up way too quickly, (seen any seven-year-olds in low-rise skinny jeans?), it’s not only the stores’ fault.

Most pre-teens don’t have the wherewithal to drive themselves to the mall and fork over the cash or credit to buy a bikini. An adult, likely a parent, has to be involved in this transaction

“Today that clear line between childhood and adulthood is blurry and pink in a Hello Kitty kind of way,” she writes.

“The real blurring started in earnest in the late 1990s with a convergence of pop-culture moments: The teenage Britney Spears became popular with her lowriders; marketers, happy to seal brand loyalty at ever younger ages, targeted 8- to 12-year-old tweens, and Gen X moms, eager to be hip, started dressing like teenagers,” Wellington writes.

“Most mothers don't go to the extremes of Katie Holmes, who has let her four-year-old daughter, Suri, wear dark lipstick and don high-heeled shoes. And many of us believe the recent trend of girls as young as 16 getting breast enhancements is icky. But parents have indulged their children with Uggs and Citizens of Humanity, high prices and all. And not only are kids and parents wearing the same styles, some parents are shopping the XL racks in kids' stores.”

It’s natural for little girls to want to follow in the fashion footsteps of mom or big sis. It’s just not natural for big sis or mom to let them.

AP PhotoCate Blanchett wore a couture Givenchy gown to the Oscars.

In other fashion news around the web, Cate Blanchett tells InStyle magazine why she fell for her fashion-forward Oscars gown. "It
was so architectural, and the breast piece is made all out of elastic,” she said. “The color combination, I couldn't believe it when I saw it in real life. I was tempted to wear it two ways, because if you take
the top part off, it’s a really simple halter dress underneath. I thought the
external piece was so unusual.”